Today I was tortured by a government agency. I had to renew my Texas driver’s license and couldn’t do it online or by mail because it had been twenty years since I had had a new photo.
I suggested to my sister that since we were out and she knew where the office was that she take me. Boy, do I owe her! At 11:30 am there were about ten people waiting to check in at the information desk. The waiting room was full, all seats taken, and people were standing.
I checked in, got a number and a short form to fill out. After a while, they called some numbers, and I found a chair to sit in to fill out the form. There was no rush. I glanced through the information desk window and saw that there were two (2)people manning the desks and cameras. People would get up and change places, but there were never more than three people processing the throng of consumers.
It took three hours! I really felt sorry for my sister who was simply waiting, but the real cruelty was for young mothers who had to feed and hold young children for that length of time. At no time did the number of people waiting significantly decrease. Some people did come and go during the time. By the way, I needed to use the bathroom facilities and found only one, not even male and female, with a sign that said “Please knock”. Oh lordy, make people wait three hours and provide limited bathroom facilities.
I live in India so, while it was boring, waiting is something that is not foreign to me. My sister asked, “Feel familiar?” I responded that the biggest difference was that there was air conditioning. It is truly amazing to me that this is what government functioning has come to. No wonder people respond so to the Republican criticism of government. It is possible that the promise of functioning government and provision of services that don’t require a day lost from work, or simply a day lost, is something democrats should seriously consider.
The actual process takes about 5 minutes. The lady/gentleman types in your name from your old license, asks your social security number, takes your money, checks your eyes, has you give an electronic signature, gets your left and right thumbprints, and takes your picture. Then, you are given two pieces of paper to sign. Now, there has got to be a better way to organize the service or they need to hire more people. There were other camera-computer stations unmanned.
Ok, I survived the torture and am replacing fluids.
But, my butt and back are suffering from those old airport plastic chairs.
That wait could become as long as two days off work to complete all the required paperwork that the New ID, promised by Herr Brownshirt Sensenbrenner from Wisconsin has in store for us. Seems Herr Sensensbrenner feels that it is way to easy to get a Drivers license in the US, so the states are going to have to conform to a Federal Standard, oh a National ID without the National on it, states rights anyone.
So Herr Gestapo Reichminister Sensenbrenner sees this as his little contribution to the war on terror, I see it more as a war on the rest of us to make him look good for re-election. I hope fat ass riechminister sensenbrenner gets his ass unelected in the mid terms, that would be justice in my eyes.
Yep, they certainly have my ID after today. All they need add is some spit and a hair.
Maybe keeping Gitmo detainees at the DMV would be more motivating. 😉
This is a typical experience for me when I’ve renewed my driver’s license here. It is the direct result of repeated tax cuts in this state. Texas, of course, doesn’t have income taxes, and has to rely on other revenue sources, which have also produced fewer funds in recent years (I used to live in Texas).
I cannot imagine what it will be like when we are required to go through the identification routines of the new federal laws. It will take at least two such lengthy visits.
On the other hand, my next door neighbor, who is Canadian, had a worse experience when she went to renew her visa as a foreign resident of the U.S. She had to go at 6:30am to get in line, in order to get a place to be seen before closing time at the end of the day. She made it home around 3:30pm. I add that she had all of her paperwork in order and in hand.
Move to a small town.
Within one hour, we closed on our home,opened bank accounts, got our marriage license and registered to vote and had a coffee break to boot.
it does take an hour or so to find a mall but I quit shopping at malls:-)